Reconvergence
by alien09
Summary: 'You trust him,' Oliver said and there was something like defeat in his tone, which confused Felicity slightly. / Felicity deserves better than just being a Girl Friday. Post-2x06. Eventual Olicity.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note:**

I'm back and trying to get back into the swing of things. Arrow, and especially Felicity Smoak, has piqued my creative thoughts. Hopefully this will lead to the rest of my stories getting updated soon!

Felicity leaned forward, swirling the red wine and watching the liquid cling to the sides of the glass before sliding back down.

_**Why her? I mean besides the obvious leggy model reason.**_

'Stupid,' she hissed out under her breath, taking a deep pull of the wine. Of all the things she could have said to Oliver, she had exposed her deepest insecurity to one of the most attractive men on the planet.

_**It didn't mean anything.**_

Felicity had spent a lot of time studying Oliver. Tommy's death was still haunting him, as was Laurel's marked lack of faith in the vigilante. If anything the walls he erected around himself had gotten stronger, if a little bit more transparent. He was trying now, genuinely trying, to be a proper friend. Their trip to Russia had been an ill-disguised form of reparation for how Oliver had let down John in the past.

Spending time with Isabel Rochev had not been a pleasant experience. The woman was like a viper, coiled and ready to strike. Felicity was sure that her sudden promotion – if one could even call it that – to Oliver's glorified secretary was just another reason for Isabel to look down her hooked nose at her.

Felicity wasn't oblivious to the rumours swirling around the company. She had walked into the communal break room just the other day and become consciously aware of what a social pariah she now was at work. Queen Consolidated had once been a haven, a place where she knew she belong. Now it was yet another reminder of how Oliver Queen had become her focal point, of how she had _let _him become that without protest.

'I don't bring him coffee. Okay I did that one time but he looked really sad and I was just being a good friend…'

_**Because of the life that I lead, I just think that it's better to not be with someone that I could really care about.**_

Oliver had looked at her with those clear blue eyes and Felicity had felt a traitorous spark of hope flare up inside of her. Her feelings for Oliver were becoming harder and harder to conceal, and not at all aided by her lack of brain to mouth filter. Objectively she knew that she didn't stand a chance. Felicity was Oliver's Girl Friday, the one he came to if he needed help tracking down a criminal mastermind. She was an integral part of Team Arrow.

But she wasn't even sure if he considered her a friend.

'He said he needed me close by, that he needed someone he trusted,' she murmured, recalling what Oliver had said when he had explained his reasons for reassigning her as his EA. She had pushed aside the feelings of inadequacy and humiliation whenever Isabel directed a barely veiled barb her way, suffered through the whispers and stares that she received from her former colleagues when she had ventured down to the IT Department hoping for a friendly face.

For what? So that she could knock on a door and watch Oliver try desperately to conceal Isabel, all mussed and glamourous and _triumphant _in his hotel bed. She had heard Isabel tell Oliver he wouldn't be needing Felicity's services that night, another comment that had made the blood rush to her cheeks and her hands shake.

Even now Felicity swore that the frigid chill of Russia still lingered in her bones. Either that or the betrayal she had felt sweep through her when Oliver had attempted to glibly brush away Isabel's presence as they were walking away from the room.

The ball of hurt, anger and confusion mingled with a stark tang of disappointment still hung suspended inside her, cresting over her in waves throughout the rest of the trip and the period after.

_**I think you deserve better than her.**_

'What? He deserves you?' Felicity pondered aloud, fiddling with the stem of her wine glass.

Maybe that was her problem. Felicity had thought that being within close proximity to him would make him see her, actually _notice _her as something other than an asset. She had watched him flicker through life, putting on whichever façade suited him the best. From what little he had let slip about his time on the island, and the scars and angry tissue scattered throughout his body, Felicity thought that wearing masks was a skill he had developed out of necessity. There were moments though when he would just be Oliver – a man looking for an anchor to help weigh him down. She never thought of him as someone who was broken or damaged – although she knew he was. To Felicity Oliver was a man desperate to heal, but the persistent guilt and self-loathing he carried around like a security blanket was a way for him to avoid starting that process.

There were hopeful signs that maybe Oliver was ready to take that next step. She had forgotten her tablet and had wandered back to the foundry, only to stumble upon John and Oliver having some kind of bonding moment.

_Another thing I was cut out of. I mean who cares about making Felicity feel part of the team? I'm just the girl with the computers right?_

'God, what is happening to me?' Felicity realized, shaking her head at the familiar pangs of bitterness. She wasn't _that girl _– the one that spent her time second-guessing her worth or her abilities, the one that spent her time pining for a man that would never realize that she was right in front of him.

_I deserve better than Oliver Queen. _

Felicity straightened her shoulders. While she loved working for Team Arrow, Felicity couldn't remember the last time she had just taken a night for herself. She had effectively become a social recluse, turning down friends who actually liked her to sit inside a cold, dark basement with a man who didn't see any problem with sleeping with Isabel Rochev.

Her phone pinged and Felicity regarded it warily. She was tired.

_What if that's Oliver and it's important?_

Sighing she reached over and swiped the screen, lips tipping up when she realized it was an offer from her best friend to have a few drinks after work tomorrow. She hadn't realized how much she had missed Sarah until now.

It was time Felicity started catching up to reality. While her feelings for Oliver would still be there, ebbing and simmering, maybe it was time for her to pull back and surround herself with people who knew her and didn't look right through her.

_I deserve better for myself._

Felicity finished her wine.


	2. Chapter 2

_**There was no choice to make.**_

Felicity thudded her feet against the cement floor of the foundry, wrapping the blanket Diggle had draped over her a few hours earlier tighter. The silence in the foundry was interrupted by the whirs and muted beeps of her computers, the gentle creaking and groaning of the building.

Oliver's words turned over and over in her head. She could still feel the warmth of his hand against hers, the blue of his eyes, the stubble crawling up his jaw.

'He had you and he was going to hurt you,' Oliver had told her without hesitation.

Yet Felicity saw the shadows lurking behind his eyes, shadows she had put there or at least stirred up again. Oliver had killed for her tonight and that struck a chord deep inside her. Felicity knew she shouldn't read much into it. After all, he would have done the same for Diggle, Thea. Hell if it was Laurel Felicity was sure there would have been no indecision.

Shaking her head sharply, Felicity glanced down at her pyjamas and zombie slippers. She had come here to the foundry after the darkness in her apartment had seemed too suffocating. She had only just begun to feel safe in her own skin again after Barton Mathis and now all she could think about was The Count running his fingers through her hair, the blonde strands slipping as his fingertips jammed into the back of her neck.

Her hands immediately went up to her hair, the breath in her chest rushing out when she felt the thick wavy mass unbound over her shoulders.

_You need to sleep Felicity. What good are you going to be to Oliver half-comatose at the office tomorrow?_

Chewing her bottom lip Felicity cut her gaze to the mat Oliver and Diggle used to train and then to the cold, steel table that served as their makeshift operating table cum sick bay. Toeing off her zombie slippers at the edge of the mat, Felicity tucked a hand against her cheek and made sure she was facing the entrance. The lights blazed overhead and Felicity made no move to turn them off.

_Just for a little while._

* * *

Oliver shrugged off his leather jacket, his helmet secured underneath his arm. Sleep proved elusive tonight. Each time he closed his eyes it was always either his mother strapped to an electric chair, or Felicity collapsing to the floor as The Count dosed her with his syringe.

His brow furrowed when the door to the foundry whispered open. The glare of the fluorescent lights made him pause and his muscles immediately tensed. Quietly depositing the helmet and jacket on the floor he made sure to keep his weight off the balls of his feet.

The sight of Felicity made him pull up short.

_**I'm sorry.**_

Oliver paused, studying the steady rise and fall of her breathing. His lips tipped up when he noticed the cartoonish slippers lined up neatly to the side and the egg blue polish decorating Felicity's delicate toes.

He made no sound as he edged closer to her, crouching down so he could hear her inhale and exhale.

_I had to kill him because he knew I was the Hood._

Felicity's glasses were a few inches from her head. Oliver scooped them up, the solid plastic frame practically weightless. Felicity looked different without her glasses. The innocence that drew him to her was more open, her eyes wider and more prominent. Oliver would often watch the vast array of emotions flash through her eyes. It was one of the things that made Felicity so trustworthy – her emotions were always out there for the world to see, whether through her eyes or through her mouth. The healthy blush that would colour her cheeks whenever she made an inadvertent innuendo, the scrunching of her nose when she realized what she had said – Oliver took it for granted now that he could read Felicity.

Which was why seeing her in tears, lips quivering and body shaking, had been a blow to the gut.

Oliver dug his fingers into the thick denim of his jeans, remembering the way The Count had dragged her by the hair over to the window. The way Felicity had told him not to kill the bastard, because that wasn't who he was now.

_**He had you and he was going to hurt you. There was no choice to make.**_

He had put three arrows into The Count without any regret. When Felicity had apologized for making him take a life, Oliver had been briefly dumbfounded. Despite what she had gone through, Felicity still thought of him.

'I'm sorry,' she had said, hair askew and make up smudged.

There was nothing for her to be sorry for.

Somehow Felicity had found her way under his skin and Oliver wasn't quite sure what to do about it. If nothing else The Count had demonstrated the disastrous consequences of his enemies realizing Felicity's worth to him. First Mathis and now this…Felicity wasn't supposed to be touched by the evil that clung to him like a film of oil.

A muffled sob made Oliver glance sharply down. Felicity's mouth puckered and moisture dotted the plastic mat when her cheek lifted away.

'No. Not important,' she mumbled and Oliver stilled before slowly reaching for her. Her hair was silk as he smoothed it down, thumb going towards the lines forming in the middle of her forehead. He kept his touch feather light but Felicity seemed to relax, turning her face towards his hand. Her skin was cool to the touch.

'Ollie,' she sighed out.

_She's a weakness Queen. _

Oliver allowed himself a moment longer before gently extricating his hand. Looking back he found the pillar, settling against the hard surface and keeping his eyes on Felicity.

_**Because of the life that I lead, I just think it's better to not be with someone that I could really care about.**_

Somehow Oliver already knew that could wasn't the right word.


	3. Chapter 3

Felicity could feel her hands shake as she cradled Oliver's head in her lap, trying to ignore the seeping coldness of his skin. The dark veins that painted his face and arms made her nauseous.

'Why aren't we going any faster?' Felicity croaked out.

'I'm going as fast as I can Felicity,' was John's curt reply and Felicity flinched back, gripping Oliver tighter as she watched the pavement and buildings blur together into an incomprehensible smudge.

_I'm sorry I was mad at you. I'm sorry I was kind of mean and…urgh! _

She recalled the gentle pressure of Barry's hands around her waist and the splash of freckles across the bridge of his nose. He had looked so bashful and unsure around her, the exact opposite of Oliver's projected confidence. It still sent a thrill down her spine knowing that _she _was the reason Barry fumbled and stuttered. She had asked him to Moira's party so she could show Barry how different she looked without her glasses and tablets and algorithms – that underneath all that was a woman semi-comfortable in her own skin.

The slight widening of Oliver's eyes when he had seen her enter the Queen mansion was just a bonus.

_Oh who are you kidding Felicity? What are you even doing?_

Right now she had to focus on Oliver.

_Isn't that the problem in the first place?_

The sudden abrupt screech of the car tore Felicity from her thoughts, her arm automatically reaching out to brace herself against the soft leather seat. Oliver let out a small groan, one tinged with pain, but the sound reassured Felicity – it meant he was still alive, still fighting.

Handing Oliver over to Diggle Felicity rushed forward to unlock the door to the club and then the foundry, practically throwing everything on the metal table on the ground so Oliver could have someplace to rest.

'Why aren't there more blankets in this place?' She muttered, wanting to find some way to make him more comfortable. 'You would think with the amount of time both of you spend getting sewn back toget-'

'_Felicity_,' John interrupted her sharply as she clutched the sole blue flannel throw to her chest. 'I brought him here because you asked me to. Now what?'

She swallowed. 'You need to get Barry.'

Predictably John found her idea sorely lacking.

'Are you kidding me? You want to expose Oliv-'

'He's been _poisoned _John! What do you want me to do? I'm not a forensic scientist! Barry can help. He's trustworthy.'

John eyed her skeptically.

'Look I know the two of you have been getting…close but-'

Felicity drew back as anger flooded her cheeks and blood.

'Do you really think I would risk Oliver's secret because I have a _crush _on someone? Seriously John. This is me. I've risked my life for you and him and I've gone along – generally – with whatever crazy schemes you guys cook up. Barry is the only one who can help us and not be a liability. Now the more time we spend arguing about what an idiot you are, the more time that leaves Oliver to, you know, _potentially die_. Could you _please_, for the love of god, go get Barry from the train station _now_?'

John stared at her for a beat before disappearing.

Felicity grasped Oliver's clammy hand in her own, wondering if she had done the right thing.

'You had no right Felicity,' Oliver told her through clenched teeth. Felicity took a moment to appreciate the flushed cheeks and perspiration dotting his brow, took a moment to appreciate how _alive _Oliver was once again.

'You told him who I was and that wasn't your call to make,' he continued, gazing down at her with narrowed blue eyes. Felicity returned the favour.

'Well I'm sorry but you were pretty much doing a matinee as an almost _corpse_ so I didn't really think there was time for us to, you know, take a vote.'

Oliver hissed out a breath, rubbing his temple as his eyes flickered over her shoulder to where Barry and John were doing a horrible impersonation of two people not trying to eavesdrop on their conversation.

'How do we know he isn't going straight to the police the minute he leaves this place?' Oliver asked in a near whisper.

'He wouldn't do that,' Felicity answered.

'How can you be so sure?' Oliver asked, and there was something in his eyes that gave Felicity pause. It was as if her answer would help him fit a piece of a puzzle only he was attempting to put together.

'Because I trust him Oliver. I've trusted you from the moment you came to me with a laptop full of bullet holes. I would think after everything we've been through you would extend the same courtesy to me,' Felicity told him evenly, matching his intense stare without flinching.

'You trust him,' Oliver said and there was something like defeat in his tone, which confused Felicity slightly.

'Yes. He won't do anything to put you – or me – in any kind of danger Oliver.'

'I did my homework on you and Diggle before I told you my secret. I just don't…' Oliver sighed, rubbing a hand over his face and clenching his jaw.

'Well I did my homework on Barry too,' Felicity admitted, rolling her eyes when Oliver looked surprised. 'Please. He may be cute but there was no way I was going to work with this guy on something within the Arrow hemisphere without making sure he was legit.'

'So when I said he was lying about-'

'I already knew his cover story was bogus,' Felicity stated. 'I figured he had a good reason for being here – which he does – and like I said before, how is his lie any different from the millions we tell the people around us about what we do?'

Oliver studied her intently, Felicity resisting the urge to let her cheeks colour or her breathing to quicken under his scrutiny. A moment later he brushed past her to stop in front of Barry.

'Thank you,' Oliver reluctantly said to the younger man. Barry regarded Oliver warily as Felicity positioned herself between the two men, John with his lips quirked up slightly observing a few paces away.

'For the record Mr Queen I wouldn't tell anyone about your…alternative lifestyle. And you don't have to thank me. You should thank Felicity though instead of being kind of a jerk to her,' Barry informed him causing a particular vein in Oliver's temple to throb.

John let out a chuckle that he quickly disguised as a cough when Oliver glared at his friend.

'Just know that I'm still considering putting an arrow in you,' Oliver bared his teeth.

'He's kidding,' Felicity laughed nervously, laying a hand on Oliver's forearm. 'This one…always trying to show off his expert marksmanship.'

Oliver gave a tight smile and noticed Barry fidget when he saw where Felicity's hand was now.

_Good._


End file.
